Tonight, before you turn to Genesis
48 with me, would you look at Hebrews chapter 11? Hebrews chapter
11. As you know, the 11th chapter
of Hebrews is all about faith. It's often referred to as the
hall of faith. And it deals with the Old Testament
saints and the faith that they had in Christ, whom they saw
in picture and in type. Paul begins the 11th chapter
of Hebrews with the definition of faith. In verse 1 he says,
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. Faith's substance, the basis,
the foundation Faith is all of our hope. Faith in Christ. And Paul begins
here in verse 4, and let me add, faith is not blind. Faith is
just not, it has an object, and that object is the Lord Jesus
Christ. In verse four, Paul begins with
Abel. He said, Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous. Cain, as you know, offered a
work of his hands, which God will never accept. Abel offered
a blood sacrifice, and that sacrifice pictured Christ, his real substitute
and sacrifice for sin. Abel received witness from God
because of this sacrifice and who he saw it represented. God acknowledged him as being
righteous. It's important for us to understand
that the Old Testament saints are saved the same way that the
New Testament saints were and still are, by faith in Christ
and Him alone, by looking to and trusting in Christ Jesus. Then we're told about Enoch.
Enoch's faith in Christ, his substitute, enabled him to walk
with God. God was pleased with Enoch's
walk, for he walked before God with faith in Christ. And in
verse five, we see that. It says, by faith, Enoch was
translated, transported. The Hebrew word for translated
here, or excuse me, the Greek word for translated here actually
means exchanged or substituted. So in a very real sense of the
word, Enoch was exchanged. He was substituted with Christ
that he should not see death. That's true of every child of
God. Christ substituted himself. He exchanged himself. He made what we were that we
might be made what he is. That's what substitution is.
He exchanged himself for those for whom he died that they should
not see death. And that's true of every believer. And what is the testimony of
every child of God? What's the testimony that we
have in Christ? Answer in the last part of verse
5 here. That they pleased God. In Christ
you are pleasing to God. In Christ God is pleased with
us. Isn't that an amazing thought? Then in verse seven, we see that
Noah's faith moved him with fear and it caused and enabled him
to prepare an ark to the saving of his house. We all know who
that ark pictures and represents. It pictures and represents Christ
Jesus, the believer's refuge, safety, shelter in the storm
of God's wrath. God's wrath and judgment and
justice on the wicked. God looked down upon the earth
He made, and the men and women that He created, and He saw that
their minds and hearts were on evil continually. He said, I'm
going to destroy this earth. And His judgment fell, but those
that were in Christ were safe from God's wrath. Noah became
an heir of righteousness, we're told, just like all of God's
elect, by being found in Christ, God's ark. That's the only way
that any of us will be spared from the wrath of God. God's
shelter is Christ, and by having faith in Him as our righteous
covering before God, we're safe. In verse 8, we're told about
Abraham. Abraham's faith moved him to
leave the idolatrous land of his father and go where God told
him without knowing where that was. Truly, Abraham walked by
faith and not by sight. He believed God and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. What did Abraham believe? He
believed Christ was the seed of woman, the Savior that would
come and redeem all his future posterity. And in verse 11, we
see that Sarah had faith. Contrary to all natural reason
and logic, God gave her the ability to produce seed that God promised
her and her husband from which the seed Christ Jesus would come.
And by faith, Isaac, he blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things
that were to come, meaning that he pronounced his blessing on
them, even though he didn't understand how or why God would have the
elder to serve the younger. He believed God and he blessed
them, even though God loved one and hated the other. There's
so many things in this life that we don't understand, for God's
ways are past finding now. Yet we in and by faith learn
to trust God, don't we? I'm beginning to learn to trust
Him. That's what we just sung. God always does what is best
for His children and therefore we can trust Him. Then in verse
21 we come to Jacob. And I think we'll better understand
Jacob's blessing on Ephraim and Manasseh when we see that it
was by faith that he blessed them as he did. Now look at verse
21, by faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons
of Joseph and worshiped leaning upon the top of his staff. So how did Jacob bless these
two sons of Jacob? Well, it certainly wasn't according
to custom as we'll see. And it certainly wasn't as Joseph
would have desired for him to, but it was according to the sovereign
will and purpose of God. So with that said, turn with
me to Genesis chapter 48. Now, while you're turning there, let
me just remind you of what's going on here. Jacob is dying.
Someone tells Joseph that Jacob is sick unto death. So Joseph
goes to see his dying father. And we see in verse one of Genesis
48 that he takes with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. For the sake of time, let's begin
reading in verse eight. And Israel beheld Joseph's sons. And he said, who are these? And
Joseph said unto his father, they are my sons whom God had
given me in this place. And he said, bring them, I pray
thee unto me and I will bless them. Then we're told in verse
10, now the eyes of Israel, the eyes of Jacob were dim for age
so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto
him, Joseph did. And Jacob, he kissed those boys
and he embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph,
I had not thought to see thy face. And lo, God hath showed
me also thy sea. It seems as though Joseph's sons
had not either yet been noticed by Jacob or possibly maybe Joseph
had a private meeting with his father Jacob before he presented
the two boys to him. whether he suddenly sees them
or whether he sees them after this interview, Jacob sees the
opportunity to pronounce a blessing upon Joseph actually through
these two sons. And when Israel saw Joseph's
sons, he said, who are these? And these boys, now you have
to remember, they're nearly 20 years old. And could be that
Jacob hadn't seen them in a while. So Joseph says to his father,
these are my sons whom God has given me while living here in
Egypt. And Jacob says, bring them to
me so that I may bless them. And Israel's eyes, like those
of his father Isaac, have in old age grown dim. I doubt if
he could see much at all. So Joseph brought them close
to him and he kissed them and he embraced them as we said.
And notice next what Jacob says to Joseph. He says, I never expected,
now I'm paraphrasing, but he said, I never expected to see
your face again. For all those years he thought
Joseph was dead. He never expected to see him
again. And he said, behold, God has
let me see your children as well. And what a blessing this was
to Jacob. Can you imagine? It was an unexpected
blessing. Aren't unexpected blessings wonderful? Isn't it wonderful when God blesses
us unexpectedly? We don't deserve any of God's
blessings, but sometimes we act as if we do. But then there are
times when God just out of the blue, so to speak, blesses us. He blesses us in spite And Jacob
told Joseph, he said, I never thought I'd see your face again.
I thought you were dead. And not only am I looking into
your face, but also in the face of your two sons. Did you notice
how Jacob communicates this unexpected blessing? He says, God has shown
me. God has shown me both your face
and the face of your two sons. You see, God is behind all our
blessings. And I know that these are elementary
things, but I tell you, when you think about them, and you
ponder them, and you think about all the blessings that you have
in this life, and you consider and realize that God's behind
every one of them, isn't that, that's just so special to know
that God is behind all our blessings. even those we never expected.
Matter of fact, especially those that we never expected. And look
at verse 12. And Joseph brought them out from behind his knees
and he bowed or bowed himself with his face to the earth. And
Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's
left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right
hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out
his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger,
and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly,"
and that means on purpose, not accidentally, for Manasseh was
the firstborn. If you picture this, Joseph sent
his boys to where all Jacob would have to do was to just put his
hand forth to bless Manasseh, the oldest. But instead, what
Jacob does is he takes this hand and blesses Ephraim, and he takes
this hand and blesses Manasseh. You see the right hand, gets the greater blessing. And
it was traditional that the older gets the greater blessing and
the younger gets the lesser. And again, we must ask ourselves
here, who made the difference? It certainly wasn't Jacob. It
was God Almighty. You see, whatever God does is
right. We say it all the time, but it's
so true. God doesn't do something because
it's right. It's right because God does it.
If God gives the greater blessing to Ephraim instead of Manasseh,
it's right. If God loves Jacob and hates
Esau, it's right. He does according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
God doesn't give an account of his manners to anyone. Now let's
consider for a moment here the order of this blessing. There's
a reason, I believe, for this particular order. I believe there's
a real picture here. Ephraim, excuse me, receives
the greater blessing. Manasseh receives the lesser.
Now, do you remember what these boys' names meant? It won't take us but a second.
Hold your place and turn back to Genesis 41 for a second, just
a few pages back. And let's begin reading in verse
50. Genesis 41, verse 50. And unto Joseph were born two
sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath, the daughter
of Potipharah, priest of On, bare unto him. And Joseph called
the name of the firstborn Manasseh. If you have a margin there, it
means forgetting. That's what the name Manasseh
means. For God said, Joseph hath made me to, for God said, God
hath made me forget all my toil and all my father's house. Oh,
he was so heart sick for home and heart broken for what had
happened to him, but God made him forget all his toil and prison
and then the house of Potiphar and his father's house. And then
in verse 52, in the name of the second called he Ephraim, and
that means fruitful. For God hath caused me to be
fruitful in the land of my affliction. We've said this for pretty much
through all our studies in Genesis, how the names mean something.
And always remember that God doesn't just flippantly forgive
sin. He's too just to do so. God's
judgment must be just. Now, did you pay attention to
what Joseph said in verse 52? Joseph said, for God caused me
to be fruitful. Pay attention to these words
when you're reading and studying God's word. The first blessing
is God causing us to be what we're not. God causes us to be
fruitful. He causes us supernaturally to
be what we naturally are not, fruitful. By nature, we're unfruitful,
void of goodness, void of righteousness, void of truth. And He causes
us. That's an important word. He
causes us to be fruitful in Christ. In other words, He gives us Christ's
perfect righteousness. And we call it justification. And if God justifies us, then
we're justified. No ifs, ands, and buts about
it. That's what Paul said. He said,
who shall charge anything to the Charge of God's elect. It's God
that what? It's God that justifies. Romans
8, 33. God is the cause of our fruitfulness
and our justification. And then after he makes us fruitful,
Ephraim, it is then that he forgets Manasseh. He forgets our sin. That's the order of God's blessing.
Christ must first die for our sins and make us perfectly righteous,
fruitful, before he can forgive us of our sins. That's salvation's
order of blessing. Now, let's consider for a few
minutes the blessing itself. Back in Genesis chapter 48. Look at verse 15 again. And he blessed Joseph. and said,
God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which
fed me all my life long unto this day." Now, do you see that
the blessing, first of all, is all about the one who blesses?
It's not about the one who's blessed, it's about the one who
blesses. He said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac
did walk. Jacob said Abraham and Isaac
did walk before the Lord. You know, I was thinking today
that there are many in this world, this religious world, I might
add, who know things about God, but they don't walk before Him.
Oh, there's a difference. You see, your walk before God
is your life. That's what God told Abraham.
Remember what he said back in Genesis 17? He said, I am the
almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. How can I walk before God and
be perfect? Only one way. We talk about that
every time we meet. Only one way we can walk before
God and be perfect, and that's in and by and through our union
with Christ. Christ is the Lord of the believer's
life. We've talked about it so many
times, how Jacob, my, he lived such a sad, pathetic life. He confessed to Pharaoh that
the days of his life had been few and evil. In chapter 47,
you're right there, look at it with me. Genesis 47 verse 9. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,
the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Few and evil have
the days of the years of my life been. And I have not attained
unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the
days of their pilgrimage." Jacob here confesses that his walk,
isn't that what a pilgrimage is? It's a journey, it's sojourning. He confessed that his walk, his
pilgrimage, fell way short of the walk, the sojourning of his
father's. His walk wasn't what it should
have been. And you know what? Neither is ours. Neither is ours. Yet all that will matter in the
end, and this is why this is such good news. All that will
matter in the end is that Christ is the Lord of my life. That
Christ is my shepherd. Now let me show you something
here that'll bless you back in Genesis chapter 48. Look at the
last part of verse 15. Well, let's just read the whole
verse again. And he blessed Joseph and he said, God before whom
my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk. And then again, he
says, the God which fed me, fed me all my life long unto this
day. Now that means a whole lot more
than just God providing us with food and provisions day in and
day out. Though it does certainly mean
that. Do you know Psalm 23? We all can quote that Psalm.
In verse one of Psalm 23, it says, the Lord is my shepherd. I found it so interesting that
the word shepherd in Psalm 23 is the same Hebrew word as fed
in this verse. Jacob is saying, my hope of redemption
is in God which shepherded me. all my life long. In my pilgrimage,
in my walk, when I sought to go astray, my shepherd gently
with the hook of his staff, he kept me from any harm. He's my
shepherd. Remember his conflict with Esau
and Laban? God was with him all the way.
God is my shepherd. When I wander far away, he finds
me and he carries me on his shoulders all the way back to the fold.
Aren't you glad that's the case? Under the blood of Jesus, we
used to sing that chorus, I'm safe where? In the shepherd's
fold. Oh, safe is my walk with Christ
as my shepherd. This is the God that blessed
and shepherded Jacob all the days of his life. This is the
God that blesses and shepherds all his people. We're not only
perfect in Him, we're not only righteous in Him, but I'm safe
under His care. He fed me, He shepherded me,
day in and day out. This is the God with whom we
have to do. He walks with me. He keeps me
from harm. God does. No doubt that verse
16 speaks of Christ our Lord. Look at it with me. The angel,
notice that's a capital A. which redeemed me from all evil.
Bless the lads and let my name be named on them in the name
of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth." Now Jacob lays claim to his redemption
in Christ here some 1,200 to 1,300 years before Christ died
on Calvary. That's why I said in the beginning
that the Old Testament saints were saved the same way that
we are, by looking to Christ. They saw Him in types and pictures. So when were the elect of God
redeemed? It's not a trick question, but
not everybody understands it. We were redeemed whenever Christ
became the Lamb slain. The scripture says that was before
the foundation of the world. Now I know he died on Calvary
in the fullness of time, and the time appointed, and the time
that God foreordained. But he was the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. And truly, we were redeemed,
and we are redeemed, and are being redeemed. We're working
out what God has worked in. He delivered us, Jacob said,
from all evil. All of it. All my sins put away. Every single one. And truly,
this is speaking of Christ, that angel with whom Jacob wrestled. Jacob wouldn't let him go until
he blessed him. You remember that? And the angel
blessed Jacob in spite of Jacob. And friends, the Lord blesses
his people in spite of them. And that's such good news to
me. God is the one who blessed these lads, not Jacob. Jacob
said, let my name be named on them. Is he speaking of the name
Jacob? Absolutely not. You know, that's
a name that all of us have earned by ourselves. It means heels,
supplanters, deceivers, imposters. That's what we are by nature.
Here he's speaking of the name Israel. You remember what that
means? Prince of God. Jacob says, let my name be named
on them. Prince of God. Now child of God,
listen to me and believe me when I tell you this. If Christ is
a Prince of God, and He is, then so are we. All who are in Christ
are the Israel of God. He's the Lord, our righteousness. In Christ, I'm a Prince. And
notice what Jacob prays next for these boys. He says, let
them grow. You know, where life is, there's
growth. If there's no growth, there's
no life. If someone's not growing in the
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, there's a reason. Could
it be that there's no life within? In verse 17, and when Joseph
saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim,
it displeased him. And he held up his father's hand
to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph
said unto his father, not so my father, for this is the firstborn,
put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused and he
said, I know it my son, I know it. He also shall become a people
and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall
be greater than he. and his seed shall become a multitude
of nations." Now in blessing them here, that's what we're
talking about, the blessing of God. You could call it a cross
hand blessing. That's what it was. But Jacob
crossed his hands and he, Joseph had placed them so that, as I
said earlier, that Jacob's right hand would easily find the head
of Manasseh. But Jacob crossed hands and he
put it on the head of Ephraim. And this displeased Joseph. It
made him mad. And he intended to take his father's
right hand and put it on Manasseh's head. But Jacob assured him here
that this wasn't a mistake. It wasn't something that he did
by mistake. But Joseph was displeased. And
you know, I was thinking, So many times I get displeased over
certain things. Does that happen to you or suggest
me? Oh. I so many times wish that I could
change things, and when I do, I'm basically just wanting to
exert my will over God's will. Let's just call it what it is.
We often ask ourselves, why? When the providence of God unfolds
for us to see, why? Why this? Why that? By nature, we question so many
things. But any objection to God's sovereign
providence concerning anything. is nothing but rebellion against
God's sovereign will and purpose. And even knowing that, I still
do it. Oh, God have mercy on us. Enable
us, Lord, to bow to your sovereign will in all things. Now, Jacob
did not lay his hand on, as I said, on Ephraim's head by mistake.
He did it according to the will and the purpose of God. As we
read in Hebrews chapter 11, By faith, Jacob did it this way. God had somehow, by revelation,
revealed to Jacob his will in this matter. The only hope any
of us have of receiving the blessing of God and salvation is if God
is pleased to give it. If God doesn't give the blessing,
we won't get it. I think about what Paul said.
He said, I plant Paul's waters, but it's God that gives the increase.
If there's a blessing to be had, God's got to give it. And it's
interesting and humbling here to observe how often God, by
the distinguishing favors of his covenant, often advanced
and chose the younger above the elder. Abel was chosen over Cain. Cain was the firstborn. Shem
was chosen over Japheth. Abraham over Nahor and Haran. Isaac was chosen above Ishmael.
Jacob above Esau. Judah and Joseph preferred before
Reuben, the firstborn. Moses before Aaron. David and
Solomon above their elder brethren. They marched all those boys in
front of Samuel the prophet, and he just kept shaking his
head. And surely, Samuel thought to himself,
surely this one is the right one. God said, no, that's not
him. And that's what the Lord said
to Samuel. He said, look not on his countenance
or the height of his stature, because I've refused him. For
the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart. God chooses the
weak things of this world. God raises the poor out of the
dust. And surely Joseph thought that
Jacob's eyes being dim made him unable to make out the identity
of his grandsons. I probably would have thought
the same thing. Surely Joseph thought it was an accident that
Jacob crossed his hands to give preeminence to the younger son
over the elder son. But it was no accident. No accidents
with God. It was by sovereign purpose. And in the choice of Ephraim
over Manasseh, the principle and doctrine of election, I believe,
is clearly illustrated. No doubt that Jacob had learned
something concerning the divine election and choosing of God.
You know, early in Jacob's life, he must have thought what many
think today. You know, so many folks today
think that God helps those that help themselves. And I'm sure that Jacob thought
that early in his life because he had been helping himself for
a very long time. Undoubtedly, Jacob felt that
God's blessings was somehow based upon his ability to outwit and
outmaneuver others. That's what he did with Esau,
even his own father Isaac. He must have believed that God
chose him over Esau because he could do more for God than his
brother could. But now at last, at the end of
his life. It seems that Jacob realizes
that which Paul wrote about in Romans chapter nine, that God
chose him over Esau simply because he was pleased to do so. God
chose him over Esau because he purposed to work through him
and not Esau. You know, it was Joseph who saved
all Jacob's posterity. It was Judah, it was through
the tribe of Judah that Christ would come. You know, we're the
people of God. Now listen, we're the people
of God simply because it pleased the Lord to make us his people.
No other reason. Nothing in us done by us that
would cause God at all to be mindful of us. There was no earthly
reason why Ephraim should be placed above Manasseh. There's
no reason that God would choose us over others. You ever think
about that? I think about it often. I see
folks that are in this world, they're without hope, they're
without God, they're without Christ. And I see myself in them
for so long. I walked according to this world
and the things of this world. I minded. But God had mercy. God in His mercy and by His grace
crossed my path with the gospel and saved me by His grace. Why? It simply pleased Him to do so. Nothing in me that would cause
it. No earthly reason. You know, society may conclude
to assign privileges according to the order of birth, but God's
not bound by such things. And that's what we see here.
It's simply the prerogative of God to save whom he will. And
as we know, Jacob's reflection over his life revealed to Pharaoh
that his life hadn't amounted to much. And now, as I said,
in the end of his life, Jacob was certain that his standing
with God had nothing to do with him and everything to do with
God who chose him. I delight to think that verse
20 here is spoken on behalf of all the elect of God. Let me
close with this tonight. Verse 20, and he blessed them
that day saying in thee, shall Israel bless." As I said, it
was for Joseph's sake that Jacob blessed Joseph's sons. Saying,
God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he set Ephraim
before Manasseh. Now Jacob speaking to Joseph
said, and thee shall Israel bless. Beloved, it's in Joseph, it's
in Christ that we're blessed. No other way for no other reason.
God makes us as Ephraim and as Manasseh. He set Ephraim before
Manasseh. First, God in sovereign grace
makes us Ephraim. He makes us fruitful. He gives
us spiritual prosperity. He makes us holy. He makes us
righteous. He makes us just in Christ. That's the first order of business.
And then, He makes us as Manasseh. God makes us to forget all our
toil, all our labor, all our bondage with and in sin. And He Himself forgets our sin. He forgets it because it's gone.
It's put away. It's redeemed. It's paid in full.
And Christ is our life. And He sets Ephraim before Manasseh,
and in Christ we're blessed. And all I can say is praise God
from whom all blessings flow. All comes from Him. We deserve nothing.